General strike hits Greece, EU raises pressure on debt

A general strike gripped Greece on Tuesday in protest against new austerity measures demanded with increasing urgency by the European Union as part of a debt rescue deal with banks. Thousands of protesters braved a light rain on Syntagma Square in central Athens, a landmark of Greek anger against austerity measures from the EU and International Monetary Fund. A group of protesters burned a German flag in front of parliament, and tried to set fire to one that portrayed the Nazi swastika, in reaction to calls from Berlin for strict budgetary discipline.
Greek media gave voice to the anguish. “Sacrifices with salary and pension cuts,” the daily Ethnos said. Daily Kathimerini wrote the country was being choked by “Merkel and Sarkozy”. Greece is at the limit of a timetable to agree new budget action, and to conclude a debt write-off with banks, under a second rescue to avoid default in about six weeks’ time.
Athens is under intense pressure from European Union leaders, but EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso stressed that Greece’s place was in the eurozone.
“We want Greece in the euro,” Barroso told reporters in Brussels. Earlier on Tuesday, Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant quoted EU Commissioner for New Technologies, Neelie Kroes, as saying that it was “not a train crash if someone leaves the eurozone”. In Athens, demonstrators marched under banners that read: “No to public sector layoffs!”, “No to cutting the minimum wage!” The protest was part of a 24-hour strike against severe budget action that had begun under the slogan “That’s enough, we can’t take any more.”